No Hollywood Movie
by crazy4darrencriss
Summary: originally titled Fan, Friend, To Lover After Justin Taylor gets his heart broken by famous Hollywood actor Brian Kinney, he finds that having famous friends comes with a price.
1. prologue

PROLOGUE

JUSTIN TAYLOR WAS twenty-four years old and had many nicknames because of his common first name. He hated most of the names he was called because many of them were just plain awful, like "Justin Beiber" or "Justin Beaver." Either of those would get a fuck you out of him. He didn't mind being called "Justin Timberlake," whom he had a crush on since before he went solo and started making movies.

Anyway, Justin Taylor was gay and proud. He was out to everyone and they all seemed to accept him, his family, friends, and the 'lame' students at his art school. He had no reason to hide who he was.

Living in Los Angeles, where gay guys ran freely and actors were all around him, he was able to meet some nice guys and a few of his favorite actors as well. One of those actors was thirty year old Brian Kinney, an Irish bloke with dreamy hazel come hither eyes, long dark lashes, and a gorgeous body. Justin was madly in love with him and as luck would have it, Brian was openly gay... or at least that's what the tabloids reported.

Brian also happened to be Justin's roommate.  
One night when Justin was walking into his apartment at two AM after a long night out with his girl friends at a local dive bar, he could hear sounds of passion from the inside. Once he was in the house, the sounds got louder and more intense as he approached his bedroom. He was nervous at that point. He wasn't drunk since he rarely drank, so he knew he wasn't hallucinating.  
Justin froze as he held the doorknob. He was afraid to open his door, but he was so tired that he just wanted to jump into bed with all his clothes on and go to sleep.

Although Justin knew something wasn't right, he opened the door anyway. He was shocked to find Brian in his bed on top of some chick Justin had never met, fucking her.

Justin screamed, causing Brian to turn around and jumped away from the girl. He covered himself up with Justin's sheets as the woman jumped out of the bed and ran out of the house with her clothing in her hands.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

WAKING UP FROM the same damned nightmare even though it was based on a real event, Justin couldn't stop reliving the sight of Brian fucking a woman over and over again in his mind.  
Fortunately, he did have some good things to think about when it came to Brian, like how amazingly talented he was. Brian had been a pop singer and a great dancer before becoming an actor. He was also the epitome of sex: tall, thick brown hair, hazel eyes, and full kissable lips.

They had met on Justin's twenty-first birthday at a bar that Justin's older sister Dylan brought him to. Brian had invited them to play a round of pool and they gladly accepted, with Justin trying not to get overly excited from what a huge fan he was.

Brian had told Justin that he had just moved to Los Angeles and needed a place to stay. The two of them had been roommates ever since. Brian would invite his famous friends to parties he threw at their house from time to time, resulting in Justin becoming friends with several celebrities.

One day as Justin opened the door to his apartment, he heard noises coming from his bedroom. The noises turned out to be grunts of passion. After putting his keys on the coffee table and throwing his jacket on the couch, he opened his bedroom door.

What Justin saw made him want to throw up. His roommate/best friend/love of his life was screwing some chick in his bed. Even as this was going on, Justin was confused since he thought that it was well know that Brian was gay. Justin screamed at the top of his lungs as if he was getting murdered...

Justin woke up screaming and in a puddle of sweat, the same way he woken up for the past two days - on the couch, dreaming of the first man he had ever told he loved whom he didn't even know had been seeing someone, watching him fuck some random woman in his bed that was now in a dumpster outside because it made him feel sick just looking at it.

He couldn't bear to ever sleep on that bed ever again, because God only knew what was on it and he didn't want to have a reminder of what had taken place there. Still, he kept dreaming about it and crying over it anyway.

Justin sat up on the couch, ran his fingers through his sweat-soaked, short and spikey light blonde hair, and took a deep breath. His mother Jennifer, who had moved in with him temporarily the previous day after he had called her crying, sat down next to him.

She rubbed his back and left shoulder. Justin leaned his head against her, and a tear rolled down his cheek as he closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he popped open his eyes and sat straight up on the couch, afraid of falling asleep again and reliving that horror.  
"No man is worth this much pain," Jennifer said as she walked into the kitchen.

"I know, but I just can't help feeling the way I do," he answered as he followed behind his mother, rubbing his wet eyes with the back of his hand.  
Justin sat down on a stool at the kitchen island and watched Jennifer as she started a pot of coffee before making some eggs and bacon.

The smell of the bacon and coffee put a smile on Justin's sad face. Food always had that effect on him, even when he was a baby. When he would scream and cry, Jennifer would cook something and it would make him giggle and smile. She was surprised that her son didn't have a weight problem. Justin stayed fit even though he was going to school, which was the only thing that made him happy during those few sad days.  
Justin and Jennifer did not talk while she was cooking. He had always quiet in the kitchen, especially now with what he was going through emotionally.

Jennifer placed a plate of eggs, bacon, toast, and slices of strawberries in front of him along with a big mug of coffee.

"Thanks for everything, Mom."

"It's my pleasure to help you, until you're able to take care of yourself again," Jennifer said with a smile.

 **end notes: Just letting my readers know since someone commented that i rewrote the same thing for this chapter as i did for the first chapter and the answer is no i didn't. Justin walks up from a nightmare and then goes back to sleep and then has the nightmare again and that his mom comforts him the second time.**


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

BRIAN KINNEY WAS in Claire's, his sister's bar/club, two weeks later with one of his best friends Michael Novotny, a fellow actor. Brian was telling Michael all about Justin Taylor, the young man he was suppose to be good friends with, and how he had on more than one occasion told Brian how crazy in love with him he was to the point of proposing to him. Brian said it all with a wicked laugh as if it were a joke. Brian was bragging to Michael about how he had gotten Justin to get the picture that Brian wasn't interested in him: by fucking an actress named Lindsay Peterson in Justin's bed on more than one occasion and hoping that once day Justin would catch him. Brian saw no real harm in it, since it had only been for fun; he wasn't into girls and was only researching for a role he was working on. Lindsay was actually a lesbian, but Justin didn't need to know that.  
Michael's mouth flew open a bit, from shock and from anger. He was extremely angry at his friend for doing such a harsh thing, but neither of them were any good with words despite the fact that they were both actors. They mostly expressed what they were thinking or feeling with their actions and usually came across as assholes.  
Brian and Michael had first met six years before after being cast in an action movie where they played partners in the FBI. They reprised their characters in the sequel filmed two years later and remained friends.

Michael had never met Justin previously, since most of Michael's filming was done outside of Los Angeles and Brian would usually go to visit Michael at his place when they were both in town. Michael had never been to Justin and Brian's shared apartment, so his path had never crossed with Justin's.

He just couldn't believe that Brian would hurt Justin the way that he did, but he guessed that was only because Brian wasn't very close with Justin after all. He recalled Brian speaking kindly about Justin in the past and how cute Justin's godchildren Jordan and Kelly were. Michael thought himself as an asshole from time to time but he wouldn't and couldn't have done to someone what Brian had done to Justin, especially to a friend.

Michael was so angry he pushed Brian against a wall and got right up in his face, which was hard to do considering that Brian was taller and built bigger than he was and no one normally had the guts to stand up to Brian Kinney.

"How could you do such a thing?" Michael angrily asked, his nostrils flaring.

"Why the fuck are you angry with me, you asshole?" Brian asked as he pushed Michael off of him.

"Well, I'm not surprised since you'll fuck anything," said Michael.

"Well, you don't fuck enough," Brian threw in Michael's face.

"Even if I did, I would have told them, at least try to tell them what's up. If someone had feelings for me but I didn't feel the same way, I would have been honest. What you did was just plain sick, too painful… why did you have to do it in his bed? I can't believe we're friends. I can't believe you claimed to be his friend. I would have thought you had strong feelings for him, by the way you've talked about him," Michael ranted, his arms flying up and down from anger.

"Oh come on, he's just a fan. Besides, what are you going to do about it?" Brian asked.

"I'm going to New York to see if he's alright."

"Yeah right, you just want to fuck him. You're wasting your time, because he doesn't fuck anyone."

Michael had his fist up next to Brian's jaw. "Shut up or I'll hurt you."

"Suit yourself, but this kid's not worth it."  
Michael pushed Brian again.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Brian asked in shock

"Get out!" Michael screamed.

"Really, you're going to kick me out of my sister's place?"  
"Yes I am, if you're going to be a little shit. And it's my place too, you know."

Brian smiled in amusement. "Wow, Mikey has balls."

"Well, I am a man."

Brian just stood there.

"Are you deaf, Brian? I said get out!" Michael repeated. "You were friends with Justin for three years, and now you claim to not give a shit about him. It seems to me that he was worth being friends with and deserves better than this. Now I'll say it again: get out."

Brian left the club and drove home feeling defeated after everything that had happened to him over the past few years. His ex fiancé Ross had left him to return to his first love, a woman (yes, a woman) named Mary in Florida. Ross later returned for a short time to take their two young children away, telling Brian he was an unfit parent. Ross even had the guts to tell Brian's sister Claire to sell Brian's half of the club to Michael of all people. Claire had never really liked her brother and was looking for an excuse to force Brian out of the business. Finally, Justin had moved across the country to get away from him and now his best friend was pissed at him for driving Justin away.

He felt tears coming to his eyes, but he was a big tough man and big tough men didn't cry, so he sucked it up. 


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

MICHAEL WIPED DOWN the bar after Brian had left. As he was cleaning up, he overheard two men talking at a nearby table.

"Dylan really just up and left with no warning?" one of the men said to the other.

"Yeah, she said that if Justin was leaving, so was she," the other answered angrily.

Michael's ears perked at hearing the name, and he wondered if by some coincidence they were talking about Brian's ex-roommate Justin.

"So, that asshole Brian fucks Dylan's brother over, and Dylan takes your fucking kids all the way to Manhattan?" the first guy said, shaking his head in disbelief. "That's harsh, man."

Michael slowly walked over to the two men, causing both of them to look his way.

"Holy shit, you're Michael Novotny!" the angry guy's friend said.

"Yes, I am. I'm actually a co-owner of the bar along with Claire herself."

He shook hands with both of them. The angry guy introduced himself as Andi (with an "I", he pointed out) and his friend was named Blake.

Michael turned to Andi and asked, "So, I heard you guys talking about someone named Justin who just moved to Manhattan?"

"Yeah, his bitch ex-girlfriend took off with his kids to follow her little brother across the country," Blake confirmed.

"Justin Taylor, right?" Michael asked.

The two men were astounded that Michael would know who Justin was until the three put together that Michael was friends with Brian, who of course used to be Justin's roommate. After a brief chat over the situation, Michael walked away with Justin and Dylan's new Manhattan address on the back of Andi's bar tab receipt, which Michael happily covered.

Michael later paced back and forth in the manager's office, raking his fingers through his hair as he thought about what to do. He decided to close up the bar early and go home. He then packed his suitcase and called his chauffeur to take him to the airport, where his private jet would then take him to his hometown of New York City overnight.

After Michael got off the plane at Laguardia Airport around 4:30 AM local time, he went outside to grab a taxi. While he waited, a couple of fans came over and asked him to take some pictures and sign some autographs, which he happily did.

He gave the taxi driver Justin's address in the West Village and closed his eyes as the driver pulled away from the curb. Michael was tired and hungry. It had been a long day and night for him, and he was feeling the pressure of dealing with Brian's shit. He had not been able to sleep on the plane ride.

Once the taxi had arrived at Justin's brownstone, Michael paid the driver and got out. He then looked at his watch and saw that it was six AM on the dot.

"What the hell am I doing here so fucking early in the morning?" Michael quietly asked himself. "I don't even know the kid."

He checked his watch again, looked up at the four story building, and shook his head before walking up the stairs to the small porch. He noticed a bank of four buzzers and pressed the one for the second unit.

Instead of the intercom being used, the door opened several seconds later. A sleepy-looking young woman with blond hair was standing there looking out at him.

"Hi, I'm Michael Novotny. I was wondering if Justin Taylor is here," Michael said sweetly.

"You're that actor, aren't you?" the woman asked. "The one from those cool cop movies with Brian?"

"Yes, that's me, " Michael affirmed, pleased with himself.

"Come on in," she said. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Dylan, Beibs's sister."

"Beibs?" Michael asked curiously as he followed her down a short hallway.

"That's what everyone calls him, although he fucking hates it. He loves being called 'Timber' as in Timberlake. Justin's obsessed with him, but not as much as You Know Who."

Dylan and Justin's apartment was small and messy. There were toys scattered all over the floor as well as unopened boxes.

"Sorry about the mess. We haven't lived here for long."

"It's alright," Michael said. "I'm not exactly a neat freak myself."

"Justin's in there," Dylan said, pointing to a closed door.

Michael walked over to the door and knock on it.

"Come in, Dylan," a young man's voice called out sadly.

Michael walked in and saw the young man he assumed was Justin sitting on a bed Indian-style. A little boy sat in his lap looking at a picture book. Justin looked stunned to see him standing there.

"Well, you're not Dylan," Justin said with a slight smile as he moved the boy off of his lap and stood up.

"Um… no, I'm not. I'm Michael Novotny, it's nice to meet you."

"I know, I'm a big fan. I'm Justin Taylor," he said as he walked over to Michael. "And over there is my nephew Jordan."

Michael and Justin shook hands.

"He's a cute kid," Michael said. "How old?"

"Thank you, he's three."

Michael couldn't believe what an attractive man Justin was. He had blond hair, blue eyes, full lips, porcelain skin, and a what appeared to be a nice body that was hiding under baggy pajamas. Brian made it sound as if Justin wasn't much to look at and very young, but he looked around the same age as Michael, twenty-four. It made him wonder what Brian must have thought of him, seeing how off the mark he had been about Justin.

Justin didn't look like a crazy stalker or seem overly-impressed with who Michael was. He appreciated that, since many people seemed to look at him as just a celebrity and not a real person.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm curious: why are you here?" Justin asked.

Michael was caught off guard with that question. He quickly debated with himself if he should lie and tell him that Brian sent him to check on him or tell him the truth and say that he was curious about the man that was hurt by someone Michael thought was a friend to both of them.

Michael came up with something else.

"I was in the neighborhood visiting family and knew you lived nearby. I'm just sorry I came so early in the morning and without an invitation."

Justin slowly nodded, not really buying the story.

"It's okay, I was already awake. I don't sleep much these days."

Michael nodded his head understanding.

Justin made them some breakfast a little while later.

"That was a wonderful meal, thank you," Michael said after he was finished.

"You probably have chefs around the clock" Justin said as he cleared the table.

"No, not really. It's nice to have a home cooked meal once in awhile instead of take out."

"I'm glad that you enjoyed it."

Michael noticed a picture of Justin and a young blonde girl on the wall.

"Is that Kelly?" he asked.

"You know about her?"

"Brian told me that you have a goddaughter and son, so I just assumed that it was her."

"Yeah that's Kelly: my niece, my best friend, my little angel. She's still asleep, I think. She's starting her first day of preschool today."

"That's cute," Michael said as he happily listened to Justin talk about his family.

"She's so smart. When I'm feeling sad, I can talk to her and she makes me smile in seconds with just a look or a word. It works every time."

"That's great," Michael said, happy that he had someone like that in his life.

"Where did you learn how to cook?" Michael asked, not knowing what else to say.

"My mom taught me. My dream is to open my own art gallery someday, which will have a cafe inside where we'll serve food. I had just started art school in LA before I moved out here after finally getting the loans I needed to afford it, and the school has a campus here in New York that I was able to transfer to."

"That's great. I would like to open up my own New York-style deli, but I can't cook so there goes my dream."

"Yeah, that's right. I read somewhere that you wanted to open a deli. Lots of celebrities have their own restaurant, even if they don't know how to cook. They just hire a chef that can."

"That's true," Michael said. "I've never thought about that before."

Michael was staring at the smart and talented man before him, trying to see what in the hell could be wrong with him for Brian to have treated him so badly.

"Can I show you something?" Justin asked shyly.

Michael smiled. "Sure."

Justin left and came back into the kitchen with a photo album in his hands.

"I like to carve out different things with clay," Justin said, flipping to a page in the book and showing it to Michael.

Michael looked at the photo with widened eyes, for the picture was of a clay figure depicting Michael as Robin in the latest Batman movie.

"Justin, this is amazing."

"Thanks," Justin said, blushing. "I've never showed anyone that before."

"Did you learn how to do this in school?"

"Yeah, a few weeks ago."

Fuck you, Brian Kinney, Michael bitterly thought to himself.

Justin talked about his favorite cooking shows on the Food Network, which put a smile on Michael's face since they too were his favorites. It took Justin by surprise that Michael liked to watch cooking shows despite the fact that he couldn't cook.

The way that he got along with Justin was something Michael had never experienced before. He thought maybe it was because he felt sorry for him after what Brian did, but the truth was that he could actually see himself becoming real friends with Justin. There was something special about the young blond, but Michael didn't know what it was and found it odd that he already felt a strong connection to him so soon after meeting him.

Justin began to yawn as Michael continued to flip through his book of clay figures.

"I haven't felt this tired in days," said Justin sleepily.

Michael stood up and walked with Justin to his bedroom.

"I'll let you get some sleep," Michael said, feeling guilty again that he had come to visit uninvited.

"Thanks."

Jordan had fallen asleep on his Uncle Justin's bed, and Michael offered to take the child to his mother. Justin got under the covers and Michael left the room with Jordan in his arms, turning off Justin's light and shutting the door behind him.

He walked over to Dylan, who was sitting on the couch in the living room watching a comedy show on the fifty-inch flat screen television. She stood up and took Jordan from Michael, and then walked into her bedroom to put Jordan down for his nap.

"You've had a long night," Dylan said after coming back to the living room. "You must be tired. Let me fix up the couch for you, if you'd like to get some shut-eye".

Michael shook his head. "No, that's okay. I'm not all that tired."

No sooner were the words out of Michael's mouth did he lean his head back and drift off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 4

p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Courier New'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"MICHAEL WOKE UP a half an hour later, still sitting on Justin and Dylan's couch. He cracked his neck and noticed Dylan and her kids were dressed for the day./p  
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p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Are you alright?" Dylan asked him./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yeah, fine," Michael said./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""If you want, open up the sofa bed and you can lay down to take a nap."/p  
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p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Oh… thanks."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Dylan went to a closet and took out some sheets, a pillow, and a blanket for him./p  
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p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""I've got to take Kelly to preschool. I'll be back later."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Thank you for your hospitality."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""You're welcome./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"After Dylan and her children left, Michael fixed up the sofa bed and fell asleep. /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Later that afternoon, Michael and Justin hung out together at the apartment. They talked about their upbringings, watched a couple of movies, and made dinner for everyone together. Michael discovered that with Justin's help, he wasn't actually that bad of a cook./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"That night, Justin had his recurring nightmare of walking in on Brian fucking that woman, just as he had every night since leaving Los Angeles over two weeks earlier./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Brian, no, Brian!" Justin screamed in his sleep while tossing and turning. He was eventually able to wake himself up./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Why do I always fall for the wrong kind of men who end up hurting me?" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin whispered to himself after opening his eyes./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Before telling Brian how he felt about him, Justin had met a famous movie star named Ethan Gold at a party Brian threw at their apartment. Ethan seemed to be a great guy along with being sexy and talented. He also had an English accent, which Justin found very hot. They soon began to hang out./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Ethan eventually told Justin that he had fallen in love with him, but Justin told him nicely that he had feelings for Brian so they could only be friends. Despite this, Justin spent more and more time with Ethan to the point that he had started to reciprocate those feelings. He was going to tell Ethan how he felt once Ethan got back from London after attending the BAFTAs./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"While watching the awards show, Justin was so happy to see Ethan win the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but what turned his stomach was seeing Ethan kiss his ex-boyfriend out in the audience before going up to the stage to accept the award. Worse was when Ethan with his fucking English accent thanked his "wonderful partner Everett" during his speech. Justin had screamed and shut the television off, never hearing another word from Ethan since./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin couldn't remember how he had fallen back in love with Brian after that, but now he wished he hadn't./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Out in the living room on the pull-out sofa bed, Michael couldn't sleep. He was planning on finding a nearby hotel since the sofa bed was so uncomfortable. He also couldn't sleep because he was concerned about the handsome young man sleeping in the bedroom not too far from where he was./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Suddenly Michael heard Justin scream out Brian's name followed by sobs. He couldn't stand hearing him in pain./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Son of a bitch. Brian, why?" Michael said softly to himself as he shook his head./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"He got up from the lumpy sofa bed and let himself into Justin's bedroom. From the light of the moon pouring in through the window, Michael could see Justin as he flailed all over the bed and kicked his blanket off./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Michael sat down beside Justin and pushed the blond bangs away from his sweaty forehead./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Shh, it's alright, it's alright. Wake up," Michael said softly./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Brian!" Justin screamed one last time before opening his eyes and finding concerned/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"brown eyes instead of hazel ones looking back at him./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""No, it's Michael. You were just having a bad dream. Are you alright now?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Yeah, I'm sorry," Justin said, sounding tired and sad./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""No need to be sorry."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Would you mind staying with me?" Justin asked shyly. "I don't want to be alone."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Sure, move over."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin made room so Michael could get into the bed with him./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Thanks, Michael," Justin said before putting his head down on Michael's chest./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Michael rubbed Justin's back as he waited for Justin to relax. Once he knew Justin was asleep from his soft snores, Michael closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep as well./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin's alarm went off two hours later, which Michael shut off for him./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Time to wake up," Michael said./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin raised his head from Michael's chest and looked at him. "Michael?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""I'm still here."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Thanks. I haven't slept that good in a long time."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Well, I'm happy that I was able to help."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin sat up and said, "I just thought of something. How did you know where to find me? I didn't give anyone my new address before I moved."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Oh," Michael said with a laugh. "One night at Brian's sister's bar, I overheard a man who turned out to be Dylan's ex-boyfriend Andi mention that you and Dylan moved to New York, so I asked him for your address and here I am."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Michael suddenly seemed to be deep in thought./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""What is it?" Justin asked./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""I just can't believe that we're the same age. The way Brian spoke about you, I thought you'd be a lot younger."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""I'm six years younger than him, but maybe I seemed younger than that in his eyes. Anyway, can you please not mention his name?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Sure, I'm sorry."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""I have to get ready for school," Justin said, prompting both of them to get up. "Would you like to look at my new photo album while I get ready?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Sure," Michael answered./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin handed Michael the album before they walked out into the living room. Michael sat back down on the sofa bed while Justin walked into the bathroom. Michael was still on looking through the album when Justin came back out./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Justin, who's this girl?" Michael asked./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"He sat next to Michael to see who he was asking about./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Oh, that's Daphne. I met her when I transferred schools. We've become good friends."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""She's pretty."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin smiled. "Michael, I want to thank you for everything… coming here to check on me and then comforting me last night. You're free to stay here as long as you like while you're in New York. I know this sofa bed isn't very comfortable, so you can sleep in my bed with me. Don't worry, I'm not some crazy fan."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Michael laughed at that. "Sure, thanks a lot."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin went back into his room to get dressed and grab his rolling backpack to take to school. When he returned to the living room, Dylan and Jordan were back from taking Kelly to school and were seated on the couch next to Michael after folding the bed back up./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Say bye-bye to uncle Justin," Dylan said to the kids./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"Justin gave his nephew a kiss on the cheek./p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; min-height: 15px;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Courier New'; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal; font-family: Verdana; -webkit-text-stroke-color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;""Bye, everyone. I'll see you when I get back," Justin said before leaving for school./p 


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Justin looked around the cafeteria at his art school to see if he could find his new best friend Daphne Chanders. Their lunch breaks were at the same time, so she should have been there somewhere.

For the first time in days, Justin had a smile on his face. It wasn't as bright as it used to be, but it was slowly getting there. He was so happy about the events that had taken place over the last couple of days and couldn't wait to tell Daphne.

There was a tap on Justin's left shoulder, and he turned around to see who it was.

"Daphne!" Justin said happily.

He stood up and hugged his best friend tightly.

"What has gotten into you?" Daphne asked with a laugh.

"I met someone," Justin answered so fast that it came out as if it were one word.

"Excuse me?"

"His name is Michael Novotny."

"The actor? Yeah right, in your dreams."

"No, in my bed."

Daphne grabbed Justin's hand and dragged him outside to a more private spot.

"What?" Daphne yelled.

"He came over my house early yesterday morning. Told me that he was in the neighborhood to see his family and wanted to check on me since he knew what Brian did."

"That asshole," Daphne said angrily.

"Can I finish?"

"Yeah, go on."

"I didn't even know that he was friends with him."

"Well, they were in _Prisoner 101_ and _102_ together," Daphne pointed out.

"Oh right, I forgot about that. As I was saying, I showed Michael a photo album of my friends and family while I was getting ready this morning, and he saw a picture of you."

Daphne pulled on Justin's hand. "He knows me, he knows me," she said, laughing and pointing to herself. "But wait a second. Why didn't you call and tell me this like um… yesterday?"

Justin blushed and shrugged his shoulders.

"You're blushing… you like him," Daphne said, pointing an accusing finger at Justin.

"He's nice and all, but I still have a thing for Brian. I think I always will."

"After all he put you through?"

Justin nodded. "I gave Michael the picture of the carving that I did of him as Robin and he loved it. I told him about my art training and my dreams to open my own art cafe. I forgot to tell him my dream to go to France and Italy, though."

"That's so amazing. I'm sure you can tell him later on today."

"Yeah, maybe."

Justin and Daphne walked back into the cafeteria since their lunch break was almost over and neither one of them had anything to eat.

"What are you thinking about?" Daphne asked.

"Just how badly I want to take some art classes in France, visit the Louvre, try all kinds of cuisines in Italy, and to see different sights along the way. To get more cultured so I can finally have my own dream restaurant and gallery."

"I remember you telling me right after we met that was your dream."

"It sure is, a dream I've had for five years now."

"So, get back to Michael. How did he end up in your bed?" Daphne asked with a huge grin on her face.

"Oh, yeah. I was having one of my nightmares about what Brian did, and I was screaming and crying in my sleep. Michael, who had been sleeping in the living room at the time, came into my bedroom, woke me up, and wiped away my tears. I looked into his deep chocolate-brown eyes and said told him that I didn't want to be alone. I asked if he would stay with me. He got into my bed and I fell asleep with my head on his chest."

"That was so sweet of him," Daphne said.

"It was."

Brian was walking around downtown Los Angeles not too far from his sister's nightclub. He had nothing better to do, since his life and career were going down the tubes. His family hated him, his friends hated him, and his fans still hated him after what had happened with his ex-fiance Ross. His breakup with Ross, a famous and beloved actor in his own right, had become very public once it became known that Brian had cheated on him and tore their family apart. The scandal caused Brian's career to suffer, and he was still trying to rebuild his image three years later.

It didn't help that Brian was always cast as the villain. Even when he played an FBI agent in those two movies he did with Michael Novotny, he was a dirty agent. When was it ever going to be his turn to be the good guy, to be the hero? Stupid guys like Michael took those roles. Just because Brian had a slight Irish accent and was a foreigner, that didn't mean he always had to be the villain.

He made his way over to Claire's and looked up at the building. He missed working there when he wasn't busy filming a movie or television show.

As Brian continued to walk around, he noticed a "For Sale" sign on the door of the old dance club called Babylon. His thoughts ran wild, immediately going to Justin and his dreams about owning his own art cafe. Maybe an art club or restaurant would be just as good?

Brian thought about how great this huge run-down club would be with colorful paintings and freshly baked bread. He took his phone out of the pocket of his leather jacket and gave Michael a call.

"Hey Mikey, it's Brian," he said after Michael had answered.

"Yes, I know. What do you want?" Michael asked, not happy to hear his voice.

"Are you with Justin?"

"Why would you care, Brian?"

Michael was actually at Justin's apartment babysitting Kelly and Jordan while Justin was at school and Dylan ran some errands.

"I know that Justin's dream is to run his own art cafe. I just walked by one of our old hangout spots that's for sale. It would be perfect for him, and with so much space he could do whatever he wanted with it."

"Justin wouldn't want to be anywhere near you after that stunt you pulled on him. He moved across the country just to get away from you."

"Yes, yes I know all that. I was being a little shit," Brian admitted as he sat down on a bench near the closed down club. "I really think he would love this place."

"Take a picture and send it to me."

"Okay." Brian hung up and walked closer to take a few shots of the building.

Michael received three pictures of the building and immediately recognized it as Babylon. The pictures brought back memories of when he was just realizing he was gay and wanted to be free and dance.

Michael texted Brian back.

MICHAEL: That's Babylon. I want to buy it.

BRIAN: Come back and buy it. Maybe you and Justin can be partners.

MICHAEL: It might just work out.

One of the pictures had shown the "For Sale" sign with the realtor's phone number on it. Michael called them and made an offer on the building. He had a deal within minutes, and he put a deposit on it with his credit card. There was still paperwork to be done before the sale was final, which Michael would need to go back to LA to complete.

Michael made arrangements with his private pilot to get the plane ready within the next forty-eight hours to take him to LA.


	7. Chapter 6

MICHAEL WAS RELAXING in Justin's bed with his eyes closed when suddenly his cell phone rang. After looking at who was calling, he groaned at the thought of talking to the person on the other end but answered the call anyway knowing he was going to regret it.

"What you want?" he said as if he didn't want to be bothered by the caller.

"Where are you?" Brian asked.

"Where do you think I am?" Michael answered, now even more pissed off.

"Still in New York, although I thought you were on your way back to town in your fancy private plane."

"I made arrangements with my pilot to leave within the next forty-eight hours. It's none of your business, anyway."

"Right," Brian said, not sounding happy.

Michael sat up in bed, knowing that the phone call wasn't going to be short like he had hoped.

"So, you've spent quite a bit of time with him. Tell me: did you fuck him yet?" Brian, who already knew the answer to that question, asked teasingly."You know what, Brian? You make me sick."

Brian was laughing on the other end of the phone. "Well, I'll take that as a no. He wouldn't let you fuck him regardless of what you try to do. He's still new in the gay world and saving himself for 'the one.'"

"I can respect that. Not so long ago, I was new to that life as well," Michael said.

"Aye, so are you falling for him?"

"No, we're just friends. I'm trying to help him get over all of the shit you put him through. You have no idea how badly you hurt him. He screams and cries in his sleep. Besides, why are you so damned jealous?"

Ignoring Michael's question, Brian said, "I told him that I didn't have feelings for him, but he kept pushing and pushing. He was a real pain in the ass."

"You didn't have to spend so much time with him," Michael said as he walked into the living room.

"We were only meant to be friends, nothing more."

"Well, you fucked up."

Michael heard keys jingling in the front door.

"I'd better go. Justin is back from school."

"Talk to you later," Brian said.

"I wouldn't count on it," Michael snarked before ending the call.

Justin walked in, dragging his rolling backpack behind him and carrying a bag of food.

"Hi," Michael said, not knowing what else to say.

"Hi, Michael."

"How were your classes?"

"Good, thanks. I have dinner for us," Justin said as he began walking towards the kitchen. "I hope you like lo mein."

Michael followed after him. "Yeah, I love it. I have to talk to you about something."

"What is it?'

"What I told you about already being in the neighborhood when I came to visit... that was a lie. Brian told me the other day about what he did to you. We fought for a bit, and I kicked him out of Claire's."

"Wait a second. Claire's, his sister's bar? I don't understand."

"I'll get to that in a second."

Justin nodded his head as the two of them sat down to eat.

"Like I was saying, I kicked him out of Claire's, and then I flew here that night on my private plane to make sure you were okay. Brian said a while back that you were a fan of mine, so I hoped that you'd welcome me here."

Justin was stunned; more like speechless. "I don't know what to say to that. By the way, I didn't even realize that you and Brian were friends. He never mentioned being friends with you."

"And here I thought you were a big fan," Michael teased.

"I am, but I've never seen anything in a magazine or online about you two."

"Well, you know that we did those two Prisoner movies together in England. I had only been acting for a couple of years then, and Prisoner 101 was my first serious role. Brian helped me run my lines. We became friends while filming those and have maintained our friendship over the years."

"Some friend."

Michael nodded in agreement. "Oh, I just remembered that I brought something for you, if you'd like to have it. I'll be right back."

He left the room for a few moments before returning with a large envelope.

"This is for you," Michael said as he handed the envelope to Justin.

"Thanks." Justin opened the envelope and took out what was inside, laughing at what he found. It was an autographed picture of Michael in his Robin costume similar to the one that Justin had carved.

"Great minds think alike."

"Thanks a lot, and I don't just mean for the photo," Justin said. "I mean for coming here, making sure I was alright, all of it."

"You're welcome. I just didn't like the way Brian had treated you, not one bit. Even before the stunt he pulled in your bed with that girl."

"What do you mean?" Justin asked.

"Uh… um, he told me that you were just a kid who was stalking him and stuff like that. He's full of shit. I knew that couldn't have been the case if he was living with you."

"It's not my fault that he never moved out of my apartment after three years, even after he had finished filming the movie he had come to LA to do. I just didn't have the heart to say anything to him," Justin explained.

"I know that."

"So, um… what did you mean by you kicked him out of Claire's? Where is Claire?"

"Well, a lot has happened since you moved away. I came back to LA to visit Claire after filming a movie out of town. She told me that she had enough with Brian's selfish behavior and wanted me to buy his shares of the club, which I did. She then moved back to Ireland and now wants me to have full ownership of the club."

"Wow, that's great. You should totally buy her out."

"I told her to be my silent partner just in case she decides to come back and run the place again."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Justin said as he noticed that they had both finished with their meals. "I've been meaning to show you something, but it's kind of embarrassing."

"I want to see it."

They went into Justin's bedroom, and Michael sat down on the bed while Justin gathered up some of his old sketchbooks. He handed them to Michael and sat down beside him.

"I've accumulated quite a collection of sketches over the years…"

Michael opened the first book, which contained pencil sketches of himself from all of the movies he had been in. The second book contained colored sketches of himself from TV shows and televised movies.

"I see... very impressive."

"Stop teasing."

"I'm not," Michael said with a smile.

Justin couldn't help but smile back.


	8. Chapter 7

THE NEXT MORNING, Michael was woken up by his buzzing cell phone that was within reach on the nightstand. He looked at who was calling and cursed under his breath.

"Hold on," Michael whispered as he climbed out of bed, where Justin was still asleep, and went into the living room.

"Okay, I can talk," he said into the phone in his normal volume.

"Where are you?" his agent and friend Ted Schmidt asked, sounding pissed off.

"In New York," Michael said calmly.

"Why the hell are you in New York?"

"I came to help out a friend."

"Get your ass back to LA like, now," Ted demanded.

"Why, what's going on?"

"You're wanted for a romantic comedy. They're hoping to get Jennifer Lawrence as your love interest."

"Oh come on, Theodore. I don't do those anymore. I have to be in Florida tomorrow, anyway," Michael lied.

"Don't call me that and besides, it's a great script. I think you'll love it. "

"Okay, I'll take a look at it. I'll be back in LA in a few hours," said Michael, not realizing he had told the truth until he said it.

"You'd better be."

Michael got off the phone and hurried to pack his things as quietly as he could, taking care of packing the sketch that Justin gave to him. He then got dressed before calling his pilot and chauffeur in LA.

He looked around the room, making sure he didn't forget anything. Everything seemed right, but wrong somehow. He would never forget that over just a few days, he had become friends with his number one fan. If Justin wouldn't accept his offer to work with him one day at his new club, then Michael was going to miss him dearly, which felt odd to him since he rarely ever missed anyone.

Once Michael had finished packing, he made a pot of coffee. While it was brewing, Dylan walked into the kitchen.

"Up so early," Dylan said.

"Yeah, a few things came up. I have to leave soon.""

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you and having you as a guest in our home."

"The pleasure was mine."

The alarm hadn't gone off yet, but the smell of coffee in the air woke Justin up a short time later. He sat up and looked around, noticing that Michael wasn't in bed next to him. He got up and went into the kitchen, finding Michael sipping a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," Justin greeted sleepily.

"Did I wake you?" Michael asked.

"Nah, the smell of coffee did."

"I hope you don't mind that I made a pot. Dylan already had some."

"Where is she?"

"Getting Kelly ready for school," Michael said. "How do you take your coffee?"

"Same way you do," Justin answered.

"Of course you do," Michael said in a teasing manner before he started fixing Justin a cup. "How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thank you. The best sleep in days, weeks, months-"

"I get it, I get it," Michael said with a laugh. "Do you have any classes today?"

"Yeah, just one. It starts in two hours."

Suddenly Justin's phone rang, and he answered it after looking at the display.

"Hello Daphne," Justin said sweetly.r32;

"Is he there?" Daphne asked him.

"Yes, he's here," Justin said with a smile.

"Can I talk to him?"

"Daphne, you're terrible."

"Please? Please, pretty please?"

"Hold on," he said before turning to Michael. "Hey, my best friend is on the phone and she's begging me to have you talk to her."

Michael motioned for Justin to give him the phone.

"Hello, Justin's best friend Daphne. This is Michael Novotny."

"Oh my God!" Daphne screamed.

Michael pulled the phone away from his ear and shook his head. He then put the phone on speaker.

"Sorry about that," Daphne said, a bit out of breath.

"So, you're actually Justin best friend?"

"Yes sir, we met each other the first day in art school."

"Very cool. Is there anything I should know about him?" Michael asked, glancing over at Justin.

Justin hit him on the arm playfully.

"Well, I haven't known him for very long, but what you see is what you get. He's the best friend that anyone could ever ask for."

"Yeah, I can see that," Michael said, smiling at Justin. "Is there anything I should know about you?"

"I love you and I want to marry you, but since you're gay, I don't think that'll work out," Daphne said.

"No, it won't, but thanks," Michael said, laughing. "Do you want to talk to Justin now?"

"Nah, I'd rather talk to you."

Justin's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I see," Michael said in amusement. "Well, how about I meet you sometime?"

"Are you serious?" Daphne asked, beginning to ramble a mile a minute. "Like, how about today? I have a class with Justin. You think you can take him and we could meet outside of the school? Oh my God, I'm so excited."

"Hey girl, take a chill pill. Breathe," Justin told her.

"Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. I'm not used to being around famous people like you are."

"I still get starstruck sometimes, too. I nearly cried the first time I met Adam Lambert, even before he was ever on American Idol," Michael admitted, taking a second to decide whether he had time to go to the school with Justin before he had to head to the airport. "Sure, I'll go with Justin to school to meet you."

"That's so awesome!" Daphne said.

"We'll see you soon."

"See ya," she said before hanging up.

Michael handed the phone back to Justin, who had a fake pout on his face.

"I think she found a new best friend. She's mental, but I love her."

Michael smiled. "She sounds like a nice girl."

"She is. You really don't have to take me to school."

"If I don't, she'll probably hound you for life."

Justin nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

They later arrived at the school in a taxi. Justin found Daphne standing near the main entrance to the building and rolled down his window.

"Hey Daphne, come over here!" he called out to her.

Daphne ran towards the car as Justin and Michael stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Oh my God, it's really you!" Daphne squealed when she got closer to Michael.

"And hey, it's really you!" Michael echoed. "I recognize you from your picture. Speaking of, I have something for you."

Michael took out an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to Daphne.

"Thank you," Daphne said shyly before pulling out an autographed picture of Michael as Robin. "Thanks, Michael. This is amazing."

"You're welcome, Daphne."

Daphne turned to Justin and said, "Oh my God, he just said my name!"

"What's with you? You never acted like this when I told you about Brian."

"That's because I've never met the man and I hate him."

Michael laughed. "You have good taste."

"Yeah, I know."

"Hey, we'd better get to class," Justin said to Daphne.

"Oh, do we have to?" she said, looking at Justin with puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, we have to."

"I'll see you later, Justin," Michael said, hoping that he actually would.

"Bye, Michael," Justin said before heading into the building with Daphne.

Michael got back into the taxi and took off.

Justin and Daphne went back to Justin's apartment after their class was over and found a note on the kitchen table. Justin picked it up and read it, then wordlessly handed it over to Daphne.

Daphne read to herself:

 _Dear Justin,_

 _I had a great few days with you. It was a pleasure to meet you, your family, and Daphne, but I have to go back to LA. I'm leaving you with my cell number if ever you want to talk. I'm happy to see no more pink in those big blue eyes of yours._

 _One more thing: something big fell into my lap. Call me sometime, and I'll explain everything to you and your family. Hope to hear from you soon._

 _Yours, Michael_


End file.
